Onishima's Special Task Force
by Strike Central
Summary: The police have yet to come up with an effective way to stop the rudies...until now. This is my 1st EVER fic! Chapter 13 is up FINALLY! 6 new rudies arrive on the scene to help out their jailed companions. I hate Mondays.
1. Boring!

I won't even waste my time (or yours) on the legal mumbo gumbo.  
  
Onishima's Special Task Force  
  
Chapter 1: Boring!  
  
It was like any other day in Tokyo-to, grinding, tagging, thoroughly pissing off Onishima and his squad of what appeared to be clones. Beat wondered if anything would change, if there would ever be another challenge for the GG's to face. Since the Rokkaku corporation pulled most of their operations there due to humiliation from the little "incident" that happened just over a year ago, things had gotten just a little on the boring side.  
  
"Today's gonna be the same ol' same ol'." He thought with a sigh. Each gang is still holding their own in their turf's. Every once in a while, though, the Noise Tanks would pull something off like random power outages and maybe a computer virus or two, nothing too major. Poison Jam would do the occasional "frogging," as they called it and throw garbage all over wherever they went. But, other than that nothing else really happened that would shake things up. The same routine Shibuya-cho day in and Benten-cho night out.  
  
Everyone was tired of it. Mew would complain every other day about having to spray her tags repeatedly over the Love Shockers own brand of creativity. Yup, they were still hanging around. Combo and Cube were going steady and seemed to be more interested in each other than the group. They still came around from time to time, but not nearly as often as they used to. Yawns and blank stares were popping up all over where "Cool!'s" and "Lets go!'s" used to flow freely. Garam, the trick master, was starting to get a little sloppy and spilled every now and then from the sheer lack of excitement and suspense. Tab and Slate took up jobs at a local department store, they were so bored. As for the others, let's just say things were in a rut and going downhill fast.  
  
Even Professor K was feeling the monotony, often playing the same song four or five times before he would realize it. No one would admit it, but Jet Set Radio was the only thing keeping the GG's, or any one else for that matter, alive.  
  
While trying out some new tags with Gum, Beat came up with an idea to have some fun. A big smile streaked across his face as he thought what they could do. Gum noticed the grin, "What's so funny?" she asked. "You'll see soon enough," Beat told her. "Whatever." Was the only response she gave as she went back to spraying.  
  
"I propose an all-out assault on Kogane-cho!" Beat yelled. He made sure everyone was at GGHQ to hear him make the statement. "That sounds like a good idea!" Yo-Yo blurted. "I could use some exercise!" Piranha exclaimed. "Finally! Something to do!" said Mew. It was agreed, the GG's would hit Kogane-cho next Saturday at around 4:00 in the afternoon.  
  
Beat was ecstatic to see everyone so alive and energized again. He went to bed that night with a big smile on his face. He knew there would be no complications. He had no idea he and the rest of the GG's would receive the biggest shock of their lives.  
  



	2. Poison Jam? What Poison Jam?

Chapter 2: Poison Jam? What Poison Jam?  
  
3:00 PM on Saturday and already everyone had left. It only takes about half an hour to get to Kogane-cho from their base, but the GG's couldn't wait. They knew there would be a few rival tags around to take care of when they got back, but there should be nothing to big for them to handle. The whole way there, they were laughing, musing about how Poison Jam would be so suprised and how the section would be totally theirs. They had maid raids on Kogane-cho before, but nothing on this grand of a scale. Each member was carrying as much paint as they could, some carrying thirty to forty extra cans in garbage bags slung over their backs.  
  
When they got there, not a single Poison Jam was in sight. "We are going to take them so by suprised." Combo chuckled. The whole plan went like clockwork. First the residential area was hit. Then it was on to the sewers. It wasn't until they reached the junk yard that something occurred to them. This was all too easy.  
  
They thought about the way they went and didn't remember seeing a single member of Poison Jam anywhere. Come to think of it, they also didn't remember seeing any tags around either. In the areas where Poison Jam tags were commonplace, were big smears of white paint. The paint was pretty fresh, too. Tab said they could have been on there for only two to three hours max. They didn't go unnoticed, not at first, but nobody paid them any mind as they were spraying. Until now.  
  
They headed back to the residential area and Gum asked some people if they have seen Poison Jam around lately. "Not since around noon today," a guy told them, "they were around here, causing a ruckus and painting the walls. Until the cops showed up." "There's no way in hell that the goon squad was able to bag 'em like this, man!" Garam snapped back. "Look," he replied, "All I saw was some other rudies with flashing lights and police sirens chase them down, knock them around, slap on handcuffs and throw them in a police chopper. After that another chopper arrived and gave them some canisters with hoses. The rudies put them on their backs and started to cover all of the tags Poison Jam had. To be honest, I'm relieved their gone."  
  



	3. The Jet Set

Chapter 3: The Jet Set  
  
The GG's were dumbfounded. They raced back to HQ to try to figure it all out. "Rudies with flashing lights and sirens? No way!" Yo-Yo was panicking. "Hey, man! Chill!" Slate tried to calm him down, "We're all just as freaked as you are!" Tempers were high as the GG's tried to make sense of what couldn't possible have happened. They were yelling at each other and almost broke out into a fist fight when they heard what sounded like a blaring siren on the radio.  
  
"Attention all rudies! Attention all rudies!" Professor K's usual laughing voice had disappeared and sounded dead serious. "I have some bad news and I have some extremely disturbingly bad news! We all know that ever since Onishima became the Captain of the police and was run over by a skater fleeing a tag site, he vowed one day to wipe the city clean of all who would tag private property by devising a grand scheme." The tone of his voice was so serious the GG's almost went into a panic on the spot.   
  
"That day has arrived. I don't know how, I don't know where, I don't know when, but Captain Onishima has recruited a group of three skaters to join the police force to eliminate all tagging in Tokyo-to! Apparently this group has been dubbed the Jet Set by the authorities. That in itself pisses me off. They wiped out Poison Jam this morning with no effort. I have also heard that they are planning to hit Kogane-cho tomorrow night! I did some research and found out the identity of the three members of this elite task force. The first member is called Blood Red and wares all red clothing. The second member is large and wares all white, he goes by the name Ultima Zooka. Their leader is none other than Strike Central, who wears nothing but black. All of you should remember them from the Big Brawl about a year and a half ago. The people that kicked major ass that night and piled the other rudies into a heap. Yup, they're the same ones. This is a warning to the Noise Tanks. Be on the lookout for these people. Keep your censors scrubbed and your antenna up. I will keep you posted with whatever information I can give. Until then, I'm posting a state of emergency to all rudies!"  
  
With that, the normal music that made Jet Set Radio what it is today began playing again. This brought no comfort, however as the GG's almost went into shock. "I can't believe it." Beat said as his face went white. Tab fell to his knees, his mouth practically hitting the floor. All the GG's went pale except for two.  
  
"The who?" Asked Combo and Cube, "Tab, I thought you told us that you guys won the Big Brawl." The others just looked at them with fire in their eyes, then shifted to Tab. "Uh," his face was white as a sheet, "I didn't think they would show up around here again so I made some stuff up." He gulped heavily. Beat then remembered that Combo and Cube have only been in town for a year and don't know the members of this so called 'Jet Set.' He explained.  



	4. Incoming flashback!! DUCK!!

Chapter 4: Duck! It's a Flashback!  
  
As Beat started, the memories came flooding back to him faster than any rudie had ever skated before. "It all started about a year before you guys showed up." Beat gulped and took off his glasses and headset. This action alone was more than enough to concern the young couple. Mew began to cry. Slate tried to comfort her.  
  
"The three of them, Strike, Ultima, and Blood arrived at our HQ to see if they could join us. There was something odd about them. I could feel it. After all these years, they still dress the same." He chuckled slightly as he remembered. "Those three, what a sight. Blood Red was the first one I noticed." He walked to the other side of the room and sat down, as if he looked tired. Combo and Cube followed him. "Wore all red, was just over 6 feet tall. I had never seen a coat that color before. It was a deep red. He looked odd standing next to the other two with his color."  
  
Beat wiped his forehead and sat back, "Ultima was, and I presume still is, the largest of 'em, hence his name. He had to weigh over 300 pounds. He looked like he could lift anything. It seemed like he was wearing a lab coat or something. At least, that's what it looked like to me. He had these large white rim glasses. Every article of clothing he wore was white and seemed to glow."   
  
"And then, there was Strike," Beat shuddered and buried his face in his hands. "He had to be the scariest one of 'em all. Looked like he came straight out of the Matrix. Black sunglasses, black headphones, black trench coat, black everything. Now that I think about it, he looked like my evil twin. He seemed to absorb everything around him. All three were exceptionally intelligent, as we found out the hard way. Even though they gave me the creeps a little, I thought they would give us a good challenge, so Gum, Tab and I took them out to see what they were made of."  
  
"I'll go first," Tab started. "I took Blood around the steep highway, told him we'd do a couple laps around the district. I showed him the course we were to take. Man, he jus laughed. Damn fool was cockier than hell. Was he for real? Did he really believe he could beat me that easily? Me??" Tab became more and more agitated as he thought about it. "I can't explain what happened as we raced, it was like he could grind on air! The steep streets didn't even slow him down! He won all right, practically lapped me too." With that, Tab walked into another room and proceeded to pound on the walls as hard as he could.  
  
"We were all so impressed," Gum said, "We were stunned. I then challenged Ultima a similar race around the playground area. I thought that since he was so big and bulky, he wouldn't be able to keep up with me. Was I in for a suprise. He was a little slower than me, just as I thought. Somehow, though, he passed me! I hadn't noticed it before, but he could take to corners better than anyone I knew. He hardly had to slow down to go around 90 degree turns! At his size! I never saw anyone before with that kind of stability, he just stuck to the roads. After five laps I was exhausted, he just looked at me and smiled, barely out of breath." Gum sobbed and stretched a bit as she let Beat finish the tale.  
  
"After that," Beat chuckled, "It was my turn to be toasted. "I challenged Strike to a shuttle run through the tunnel ducts that run through Shibuya-cho, three laps. I had done the run several times and knew of no one that could top me. Not till that day." "When I yelled go to them, they took off like a bat outta hell! Well, Strike did, anyway." Slate interrupted. "Let me finish, damn it!" Beat was really upset now. "Woah, man. OK. This is your call." Slate backed off. "I couldn't believe how fast he was!" Beat started again. "He had finished one lap before I was halfway back! As he passed me, it appeared that there were sparks coming off his skates! He finished three laps in just over what took me two. I never bothered with the third lap. When he got back, he grinded up the stair rail and had the nerve to say, "Sorry about that, I'm off my game today."  



	5. Good Lord...more?!?!?

Chapter 5: Good Lord, more?!?!  
  
Cube and Combo didn't know what to say. These people sounded good, too good in fact. They weren't sure if their friends were putting them on or not. No one could be like that! That fast, that stable (stability is a necessity for cornering)! Then again, if this was a hoax, then the other GG's deserved an Academy Award or two. This was plain freaky. "What happened then?" they asked. "No duh, we were damn impressed. We immediately offered them to join without any questions." Slate found the nerve to speak again. "We probably should have had some." Mew finally spoke up, still sniffling a little.  
  
"We all wanted to see what kind of tags they use. If they skated that good, their tags should be off the charts! Or so we thought." Piranha had to get her say. Garam added to that, "Yeah, how were we supposed to know that they were against tagging? They said they wanted nothing to do with illegal activities." YoYo piped up, "They claimed that they only skated, and never worried about spraying. They also claimed that that's how they got so good."  
  
"This caught us more by suprised than anything else." Beat was hoping to finish the story some time tonight (I'll bet you are too, TOUGH LUCK!), "So I told them straight, either you take up tagging, or your out. We have our pride as the best gang out there. With saying that, they flat out declined and took off."  
  
Combo was mad, "They just walked off? What the hell? Did you see them again?" A number of GG's laughed, including Beat. "Damn straight, we did." He chuckled, that was six months later, at the Big Brawl."  
  



	6. Shut up, already!

Chapter 6: Shut up, already! LOL!  
  
"My god," Beat mused, "fate must have been laughing his ass off that night. This happened back when the only GG's were Tab, Gum, and myself." "Say what?" Combo was really confused now, "How do yo' all know them then?" he asked ad he looked around the room. Tab had stopped beating the tar out of the wall and decided to join the others again. "Beat told us about them when we joined, as we joined." Piranha said. "I've heard the story so many times, I could swear I was there, that's why we talked like we were." Mew added. "Then why, after all this time, are you just now telling us this, Beat?" Cube asked. "Because," Beat winced, "I didn't want you to be scared. Besides, I never thought we'd see them or hear about them again." "I'll bet." Was the only response Combo gave to Beat. "So what really happened at the big brawl?" Cube was anxious.  
  
"As I said," Beat continued, "fate pulled a fast on all rudies that night. It may seem impossible, but as we were shreddin' around the northern part of Shibouya-cho, we came face to face with Poison Jam, the Noise Tanks, and the Love Shockers all at the same time at a certain intersection." Combo laughed. Cube didn't believe him either until she looked at Mew and saw her nodding her head while a tear was still streaking down her face. Cube immediately concentrated on what Beat was saying again. "All of the gangs were confused at first, us all meeting at the same intersection and all. They looked at each other, and then started wailin' on everyone they didn't consider friendly."  
  
"I had to baby sit my little brother that evening." Slate said, although obviously pissed, "Man, I wish I had been there with you guys!" "No you don't, trust me." Gum took the reigns then, "A Noise Tank came after Tab while Beat was tryin' not to get pulverized by a Poison Jam. I went straight after the first Love Shocker I saw." "After a few minutes, the fight was really gettin' loud and gettin' roudy!" Tab rudely jumped in, "We heard someone whistle. Instantly, everyone spun around, expectin' to see the fuzz. Man, I wish!" "Ahem!" Gum bumped Tab out of her way, "So anyway, by the look on their faces, it seemed that all the other gangs were visited by the three of them. We all just stared as we saw Strike raise a hand and say, "Well, well, well. A party! Why weren't we invited? Oh well. It makes no difference. Shall we dance a couple rounds with you?" With that, he snapped the fingers on his raised hand and the three of them came gunnin' at us!"  
  
"Before we could react," Beat started again, "Strike burst through the group of rudies in the middle of the intersection while Blood drop kicked a Love Shocker right in the jaw! She fell hard and didn't get back up. Ultima was havin' fun with Poison Jam. You know how strong they are, right?" Combo and Cube nodded, knowing that when the three members of Poison Jam work together, they can lift a small car. "Well," Beat chuckled, "they bounce well too. Did you know that?" Combo was puzzled. "Ultima was throwing them and punching them left and right, bouncing them off the walls like they were tennis balls!" "No fucking way!" Combo said in disbelief. "It's the truth," Gum said, "I saw it too. Not only that, but Blood was making shorter work of the Shockers than I thought any man could. With a roundhouse, another one fell. I didn't see much after that. Strike must have uppercutted me or something. All I saw was a black streak as it met my chin and everything went black from there on in as I flew."  
  
"I saw Gum take the hit." Tab said, cutting her off again without realizing it, "Than a Noise Tank zipped by and took the mother of all cheap shots at me. I'm out." "That left only me, one Love Shocker, and two Noise Tanks standing. Most of us were dazed and battered." Beat said, "I saw another Noise Tank fall to Strike before he swung around and broke my nose. His other fist knocked me out cold. When I woke up, we were piled up onto one-another. Strike noticed me and said, "Don't worry, we won't press charges. After all, we were never in danger." With that said, he laughed and walked off to the flashing lights in front of them. All the rudies were stuck in the hen house for a month for disturbing the piece. I guess Onishima was in a good mood that month."  
  
  



	7. Benten by...Day?!?!?

Chapter 7: Benten by...Day?!?!  
  
The GG's knew that something needed to be done to tackle this new menace. They decided to storm Benten-Cho to try to find the Noise Tanks the next day, before Strike and the Jet Set could take them out. They agreed to head out at noon.  
  
If the rudies thought Benten-Cho was a sight at night, with the neon lights and all, they all instantly agreed that Benten was a lot weirder during the day. It wasn't all the people bustling about, it was more like, they had never seen Benten in daylight. They got over their awe and finally got their heads clear. They decided to check the shopping district and the train station first. The typical Noise Tank tags abound here and there, but the GG's decided the night before that this would be a mission to devise a plan with the Noise Tanks to stop this new threat, not take over themselves. They left the tags alone as a sign of their goodwill.  
  
It was well past 2:00 and the GG's were about to give up. They started to head back, but then they saw someone they never saw before skating around. That wasn't odd, but the Jet Set Radio logo on her jacket sure was. They tailed her to an alley in the business area near the subway. She raised her hand to her headset and said, "I'm here, sir." Shortly after, a door opened and she started to walk inside. In a flash, Beat rushed to the door, stopping it from closing as she disappeared behind it. Cautiously, Beat and the GG's slid inside to see what the hell was happening.  
  
Luckily for the GG's, there was a metal walkway all along the top area of the warehouse they entered. They silently hid in the shadows as they saw...Professor K talking with the Noise Tanks?!?!?!? Beat was confused at first, but only at first. He then realized that K being there made perfect sense. Beat decided to wait for the perfect cue to announce their presence. He was always one for the dramatic. The GG's listened to the conference unfolding under them.  
  
They saw the girl skate up to Professor K. "Glad to see you made it, Shift. What took you so long?" K asked. "I'm sorry, sir." she explained, "Pink was having some difficulties with the controls back at the station. He needed help, so I tried to help him the best I could. He finally got the gist of the controls and told me to head here. I came as fast as I could." "Well," K said, "I hope Pink doesn't mess anything up. Thanks for helping him. I expect Trip to contact me at any time now." Everyone could tell that he was upset. Combo noticed that the Noise Tanks were really shaking and nervous. He nudged Beat, who was only paying attention to K. Beat made a short puzzled look, and sent the message to Gum, who continued the chain until all the GG's noticed.  
  
"What's wrong with you guys? You've been shakin' ever since we got here. Don't tell me that you're really afraid of these guys!" Shift lightly chuckled, "We have the Professor, me, you guys and the Love Shockers." she motioned to a corner. There stood the Love Shockers, seemingly ready for anything. Mew lightly grinded her teeth and cursed under her breath. The other members were gradually becoming less and less suprised as they saw more rudies gather. Shift continued, "All we need now is the GG's, and there would be no way that Strike and his," she practically groaned as she spoke the words that she knew made Professor K so pissed, "Jet Set," she coughed, "could take us. We would outnumber them," she paused a moment to think how many members of the GG's there were, "19 to 3!! It would be impossible for them! There's no way we can lose! That is, of course, if Beat, Tab, Gum and the others are willing to join us."  
  
A big smile crept up Beat's face, he knew that this was the perfect time to jump in, but before he could stand up, Professor K grabbed his headset and started to talk to someone else. "Yo, Trip, what's the scoop?...What?!?...Not there?...Are you sure??...Damn it. Keep checking around and let me know if you find any of them." His face suddenly became three shades redder as he hung up. "What's wrong, sir?" Shift asked. "DAMN IT!" K shouted so loud and suddenly that Shift almost fell backwards. The Noise Tanks jumped to their feet instantly, almost pissing their pants. "WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?!?!" Gum noticed that her ears were starting to ring. Garam winced. "Calm down, sir!" Shift tried to figure out why K was shouting, "What's wrong?"  
  
"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!?!" K just kept getting redder. "Sir! Please stop!" Shift started to cry, she couldn't handle being yelled at by her employer like this. The Love Shockers were completely stunned at K's behavior. K looked around, saw the reaction of the others, and did his best to cool down. After a minute he spoke, "Sorry, Shift." He patted her on her back, she sniffled a little, "What's wrong is that we just lost our main force." He was back to his usual volume level. "What do you mean?" one of the Love Shockers asked. All the rudies were puzzled. Beat made a quick glance at Tab, Tab shrugged his shoulders. "What I mean is," K took a deep breath, "That the GG's weren't at their HQ. Trip just told me that no one was there 'cept Pots. I told her to keep searching Shibuya until she found a GG."  
  
Beat started to smile. He decided that this was the time, for sure. He was halfway from standing when he was interrupted again by some barking outside and then someone practically flew through the door. "AAAHHH!!! SSSSSHHHHHIIIIITTTTT!!!" was all the purple-clad person could say before they crashed into a pile of empty boxes. A small cloud of dust emanated from the used boxes. The Noise Tanks dove under some computer equipment. The Love Shockers fell over each other trying to get away. Beat and the GG's jumped and hit their backs to the walls. Shift grabbed onto K and screamed. K just stood there, flabbergasted.  
  
"Uh...hi Trip." was all K said as the dust was starting to settle, "What are you doing here? I told you to keep searching Shibuya." As he finished, everyone started to hear barking amidst the clouds. "I don't believe it." Beat mused to himself and smiled again. "Beat man," Yo Yo asked, "Aint that Pots' bark?" "You read my mind Yo-man." Beat chuckled. "I was, sir." came from the still settling clouds, followed shortly by a cough or two, "I figured that since I was at their base, I'd leash Pots to try to find Beat. I don't know why, but he led me here. A little bit faster than I would have liked to travel." She let out a nervous giggle. Shift opened her eyes and started to let go of K.  
  
The dust finally settled and Pots was barking his head off in the middle of the room. "Why the heck is Pots yappin' like that, Beat? I've never seen him so energetic." Yo Yo asked. "That's cuz' he just went for a walk, Yo Yo." was Beat's reply, "He doesn't get much of a chance to run, or walk for that matter. So when he does, he gets really excited." Beat gave a slight chuckle, "I probably should take him out more often." Professor K was still trying to digest what happened while Post started to look at the high railing where Beat and the GG's were spying.  
  
"So, where are the GG's?" K blurted, he was starting to get angry again. "Finally!" Beat said to himself. K started to follow the direction that Post was heading for. "I don't know, sir." Trip said, "Maybe they're..." "Already here?" Beat practically shouted. The Love Shockers and the Noise Tanks all jumped three feet in the air at Beat's announcement. Even K stepped back a minute. In unison, the GG's made their presence known, as each member stepped out from their respective corner. "We are here for the benefit of all rudies." Beat said as he made the biggest smile that anyone had ever seen him make. "All right!" K almost did a backflip. "OK, rudies." Beat said, "Let's figure out what we are going to do about this 'Jet Set'." All the GG's went to gather the other mass of rudies. 


	8. Our Founding Tanks

Chapter 8: Our Founding Tanks  
  
It wasn't until the gang all got their heads together that they realized that there wasn't much to work with and that they had absolutely no idea what the hell they were going to do. K looked like he was, for once in his life, speechless and devoid of all things audio. For the next hour, the only thing the rudies accomplished is prove how loud they could yell at each other and how sore their throats could get. Members from each gang yelled at each other about whose plan was the best. Stupid plans and downright moronic ideas flew all over the place. Garam suggested that Combo should throw his stereo at the Jet Set. He then got a big black knuckle sandwich. Shift suggested that they take the fight to the Jet Set at the police headquarters. Umm...no. Yo Yo was about to go into a panic again, "What are we going to do, man! This is insane!" Slate tried to calm him down, "Damn it, Yo Yo! Calm down!" Slate started to shake the frantic rudie until he almost passed out. "Calm down, you two!" Trip yelled.   
  
Gum made a comment about how Poison Jam would probably suggest to throw garbage and frogs on them, or hold a mannequin hostage. She started to laugh, as did almost every rudie that heard her, but then she remembered what happened to them and that the same fate would befall all of them if they didn't come up with something solid in the next few hours. The rest of the rudies fell silent an started to work together for once.  
  
Combo spoke up, "We don't have anything to worry about, guys!" the other rudies stared at him for a second, "It's like the babe said, we outnumber them 19 to 3! How could they possibly beat all of us??" "You may be right," Cube grabbed his arm, "but, we should at least have a plan. You remember how well these guys fight and skate?" "Uhh...Yeah, sure I do." Combo started to blush. "All right, people!" K snapped everyone back to reality, though not every one wanted to be, "We may outnumber them, but they can still prove to be a major problem if we face them alone!" "K's right!" Beat jumped in, "Alone, they will beat us for sure, but if we all work together, we can knock the tar outta' them! All we need is to figure out a way to get them into an open place, then all of us can rush 'em! Any ideas?"  
  
The leader of the Noise Tanks, Zeta, spoke, "I know where they will go when they get here." "Huh?" Tab said, the others were equally interested in what the Tank had to say, "What do you mean? Have you met them before?" The other two Noise Tanks gathered behind Zeta, "Yes I have, and so have Alpha and Gamma here." He pointed to the other two Noise Tanks behind him. "Well, spit it out, man!" Garam said to Zeta. Zeta took a moment to cleat his throat, "They will come here, to this warehouse." "Are you telling us that they know where your hideout is?" Mew asked. Alpha nodded. "How is that possible?" Beat asked, "We were searching all over Benten for your hideout and we couldn't find a trace!" Piranha chuckled, "Let me guess, they used to work with you guys here?" Slate, Tab and Trip started to laugh at the joke. Beat and K smiled. Suddenly, Gamma looked up and asked, "How did you know?"  
  
All the other rudies froze in place. "Saywhatnow??" was all Gum could manage to say, taking the facial expressions of all the other rudies and miraculously turning them into a somewhat comprehensible blur of words. Oddly enough, Gamma and the Noise Tanks seemed suprised that none of the other rudies, not even Prof. K, knew that Strike and Ultima were former tanks. "You didn't know?" Gamma finally managed to say after the suprise wore off. "No way, man!" K screamed, "I know everything there is to know about all that happens here in Tokyo-to. Those puppets of Onishima's only got here about 2 years ago!" "Yeah," Alpha replied, "Strike, Ultima, and Blood arrived here about two years ago," he emphasized their names as he said them.  
  
K and the other rudies were really confused, now. "Originally, their was only Strike and Ultima, as you know them, Blood is one of their friends that they brought back from the States with them. They were known as Epsilon and Omega to us, but that was many years ago." "From the US?" Beat asked, "They were here, and then left?" "You got it," Gamma answered, "They were from the US to begin with, they came here to get out of their old routines and find some new action." "So they met up with you guys, and joined you?" Mew asked, still a little puzzled. "Joined us?," Alpha asked, "More like, they made us!" A universal "WHAT?!?" rang loud from the mass of skaters. "Hold up, guys!" K raised his hand to silence the chatter, "I remember, now. Yours was the first gang to come about. You're telling me that these two 'yahoos' are the founders of the Noise Tanks??"  
  
"That's what I'm saying, K," Alpha replied, "Zeta and I met up with them at middle school. Gamma's my younger brother. We were all very much into electronics and skating, so we decided to make up our group." Beta looked to the ground, even though he was still wearing his suit, Beat and the other rudies swore they could see him smile. Gamma took the opportunity to speak up, "We only did small-time things back then. We were just pushing the limits of people's willingness to tolerate us, to see what we could get away with. Back then, we never even thought of tagging." "That was all fine and good for about, 7 or 8 months," Zeta blurted. "Then Poison Jam raised their ugly heads and made a massive spraying spree all over Tokyo-to." "I remember that." Slate spoke up, he lightly elbowed Tab. Tab chuckled, "Yeah, man. They came up through Shibouya-cho and started to spray paint all over the billboards. We couldn't let them mess up our neighborhood, so we roughed 'em up a little bit, sent 'em packin', and covered their messes with our 'art.'"  
  
"That's when we formed the GG's." Beat proudly announced. "Hey! Yeah!" K lit up, "That was when I made my first rudie tagging reports and hired Pink, Trip, and Shift to keep track of the gang activity." Shift blushed. "Anyway," Zeta wanted to get the story finished before midnight, "Alpha, Gamma and I wanted to fight back with spraying, but Epsilon, Strike to you guys, and Omega, that's Ultima, duh, wouldn't have it. They suggested that we should retaliate using our computing methods. We went along for about a month, got tire of sitting at a desk all day while Poison Jam was out there messing up our turf!" Zeta started to sound like he was getting annoyed. Alpha spoke again, "We told Epsilon...," he coughed " Strike that we wouldn't just sit around while Poison Jam acted like they owned Benten. He and Ultima said that if this is what we wanted to do, that we would do it ourselves. They wanted no part in tagging. He also said he wouldn't disband the Noise Tanks, but that he and Ultima would leave."  
  
"So what happened?" one of the Love Shockers asked, interested. "They left, all right, left the country to head back to the US." Gamma said, "We haven't heard of them since, except when they visited us shortly after the returned." "What did they want then?" Garam asked, trying to stop his nosebleed. "Just to see if we had changed our tagging ways." Gamma said. Piranha asked, "Did they say anything else? That they were going to join up with the police? Anything?" "No," Zeta retorted, "He seemed angry at us and then left, slamming the door. I didn't think of it, but we should have changed our HQ." He sighed and leaned back on his computer bench, "We can clear out a spot here and leave a welcome mat." Beat liked the idea, so did K, so did the rest of the rudies. "At lease we have some sort if an idea of what we are facing, now." Slate added. The other rudies started to cheer. They moved the computer equipment to a corner. The space of the warehouse was amazing. A skating rink could easily be put in. Garam was still rubbing his nose. Combo decided that he needed both arms for his wrestling match against Ultima, and set his stereo down with the computer stuff. Beat checked his watch, close to 4:30, great. Plenty of time to arrange the group and decide who was going to be the lookout.  
  
Gamma volunteered for that job. He said that Strike and the Jet Set would be less suspicious seeing a Noise Tank on patrol instead of another rudie. That is, of course, if he gets caught. Alpha disagreed commanded Zeta to let him be the lookout instead of Gamma. Zeta agreed since Gamma was still so young. Tab then had a brilliant suggestion: A few GG's could act like their fighting the Noise Tanks to try to make the Jet Set lose their focus and drop their guard. Beat agreed: Tab, Gum, and he would pretend to fight the Noise Tanks, lure the Jet Set out into the open intersection. He suggested that they should ditch the idea of fighting in the Noise Tanks base. When asked why, he commented that fighting in their base would result in damaged computer equipment, and since Strike and Ultima knew the layout, they would be all that much tougher to beat. The others agreed and decided to hide in the shadows until the Jet Set arrived. 


	9. One By Air, Two By Land

Chapter 9: One Gang By Air, Two Gangs By Land  
  
The rudies soon got bored waiting and decided to hang out in the Noise Tanks' HQ. They swapped LP's and had a little party of their own. Most rudies talked with each other and forgot that they were from rival gangs. They saw each other as fellow skaters. They even agreed to have a big party at least once a year to forget their rivalries for just that one night. The party continued until 6:00. Then, Beat had a brilliant idea, "D'oh!" he inwardly cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner, "Hey, guys!" "What is it, Beat?" came from everyone all over. "I just had an idea that could tip the scale in our favor even further!" Beat shouted. "What is it this time, GG?" Beat turned around, and saw the Love Shockers come up from behind him. "Good! Just the ladies for the job I had in mind!" Beat grinned. "What is it?" Grip, the leader of the Love Shockers demanded. "Listening to Jet Set Radio, I'm sure Pink will be able to tell us when the Jet Set leave the station for Benten, right?" Beat looked excited. "Yeah, what of it?" The Love Shockers were curious. Beat could sense their curiosity, "Here's my plan: I want you three to head to the Police Station and wait there." "Are you insane!?!?" Grip shouted, obviously pissed, "Do you want us to be slammed along with Poison Jam?!?! You traitorous dog!" she raised her fists, almost ruining the mood of the party. "No, wait!" Beat backed up a step, "You didn't let me finish! Wait there, but don't be seen. After the Jet Set leaves and reaches Benten, I want you three to spring out Poison Jam! The cops will never expect a suprise break out this soon!" Grip started to protest, went silent, and thought for a minute. If they would do this, the cops would definitely be off their guard and it shouldn't be too hard to spring the fishy freaks. A smirk rose on the lips of Grip and her followers, "Good plan, for a GG." "Thanks...I think." Beat blushed. "We shall wait for Pink's signal." With that, they were gone through the door and out of sight.  
  
Beat felt an intense excitement rise up in him and he couldn't contain the laughing fit that ensued. After five solid minutes of laughing, Beat straightened up and did his best to stop his blushing. He looked around and saw the others were staring at him like he was some sort of lunatic. They were probably right. He also noticed that the music Professor K was cranking had also stopped. He told them of the plan and they laughed too, though not nearly as long. K radioed Pink to tell of the Jet Set's progress. He got an OK back and all the rudies returned to their partying, itching to pounce on those who would dare disturb their skating and tagging ways. Zeta told the others to get a little shut-eye. He knew that Strike would wait until after dark to show. Sun down occurred usually around 9:25 - 9:45. He set his alarm to 9:00 so everyone could completely wake up. They would be ready.  
  
Meanwhile, at the Police Station:  
  
"Strike!" a familiar scruffy voice called from behind a glass door with the lettering "Captain Onishima." "Yes, sir?" a young man, dressed entirely in black, entered the room. "Get your friends in here, too!" Onishima commanded. "Right away, sir." With that, the man in black exited the room and entered again followed by a huge figure clad in white and rather tall fellow wearing all red. "Sit down, all of ya'." Onishima sneered at the three. "You three know that I'm still not entirely thrilled of having to resort to using you guys to catch those punks out there," Onishima sighed, "But, you three really did a good job yesterday, I'm proud of you boys. Tonight, if you can pull this off, I'll promote you all to Lieutenant's!" Three pairs of bug-eyes appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"Really!?!?" The man in black stood up, he then immediately sat back down, giggling to himself, "Uhh...sir." Onishima started to laugh, which doesn't happen often enough. "I should have expected that kind of reaction from you boys!!" He continued to laugh, almost uncontrollably. The three men just stared at the hysterical man in front of them. They didn't know if Onishima was laughing at their reaction, or from thinking of what it would be like to have two gangs in jail, or a somewhat odd mixture of the two. Their joy nearly melted into fear. After a brief moment of sanity, Onishima stopped laughing and tried to straighten his hair, which of course, didn't budge an inch no matter how hard Onishima tried. The man in black chuckled, "I've told you, sir. I have an uncle that works on hair. He could probably fix that for you." The other two joined his chuckling.  
  
Onishima just glared at them, they promptly shut up, "I told you that personal hygiene always takes a back seat when there's a bunch of mangy punks trashing up my city!!" "Yes, sir." said the man in black, shortly before coughing. "Anyway, I'm having you three lifted to Benten via chopper. Your backup will leave shortly after you three do. You'll leave at around 9:30 with an E.T.A. of about five minutes." "Have us dropped off near the subway entrance in the business district." (I'm stopping this mysterious colored clothing thing. You already know who they are. If you don't, take the time to read the flipping story from the beginning, ya' foo'!!) Strike(man in black, duh) said. "Huh?" Onishima was caught off guard, "Why there? I was fixing to have you dropped off at the shopping mall!" "Let's just say I have my reasons." He smiled to Ultima(man in white, pay attention). Ultima just smiled back and Blood(man in red, should I spell it?) did the same. "OK, whatever you guys want. I'll head out there shortly after you guys leave too, wouldn't want to miss this party." Onishima said with a dark grin.  
  
A young girl , plainly dressed in regular street clothes was waiting outside Onishima's office. She stood up, and with a shuffle in her bell-bottom jeans, walked out the building. She rounded the east corner, passed a dumpster, when someone grabbed her around the neck, covering her eyes, from behind. "Reveal thy name!" a voice whispered in her ear. "Damn it, Grip!!" the captive yelled, though not loud enough to alarm the policemen outside the precinct, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Grip chuckled and let go, "I've been waiting for you, Tallulah. So, what's the scoop??" "They're leaving at 9:30 by helicopter. The Poison Jam are being held in some cells in the basement, I know where they are." Tallulah snapped back at Grip, obviously pissed. "Good to go, my sweet. Head back to the HQ, get properly dressed and meet up back here as soon as you can. Evolove, let her use your skates until she gets back." "What? But I..." the Love Shocker trailed off. "Now, little lady!" Grip scolded her. "OK, fine!" she stomped, got out of her skates and angrily tossed them at Tallulah. "Geeze, it's not like I'm too thrilled using your skates either, Evo. I'll get them back to you in a jiffy!" with that, Tallulah blew her a kiss and raced off. Evolove just glared at her until she was out of sight. "Don't get too attached to them, even if they are only skates." Grip spoke up, "Remember what happened the last time you got too attached?" Evolove simply curled up. A tear streamed down her left cheek, though no one noticed.  
  
The third Shocker started to laugh, but Grip quickly made her shut her lip. "What are you laughing for, Indigo? You were hurt just as bad as the rest of us, or don't you remember that?" Indigo stared at the ground and kept quiet. Grip stood up from behind the dumpster, "You two stay here." She dashed behind the building next to the precinct and worked her way to a pay phone. Fishing out a metal slug, she dialed a blur of numbers and waited. "Hey, waz' happenin'? You're on Jet Set Radio! In a minute you can speak with all of Tokyo-to as soon as this jammin' song kicks off." a male voice said, trying to sound like Professor K. Grip smiled, "Pink, get off your ego trip and listen up, this is Grip with word on the Jet Set." The voice became an octave lower, as if Pink was trying to impress her, she knew he had the hots for her. "Ahh... My lovely leading lady Love Shocker, to what pleasure do I owe such a call?" Grip rolled her eyes, "I have info on the Jet Set, ya dip!!" "Wha..what??" came Pink's voice as he almost tripped over some stereo cords. Grip suppressed a laugh with some difficulty, "They'll be leaving the station at 9:30. They're being transported by chopper, tell K and the others." Pinks voice lost it's deepness, "Wha...right, right. Say, Grip, what's the chance of a girl like you and a guy..." Grip slammed the phone before he finished the same line he always said every time she had the displeasure of reaching him while requesting a song on Jet Set Radio. She rushed back to her fellow Shockers.  
  
When she got back, Tallulah was back and Evolove had already gotten her skates back. "Where did you go?" Tallulah asked. "I had to make a quick call to tell Pink what was going down." Grip still has a smile on her face. "Hah!" Indigo burst out laughing, "Let me guess, he tried tat same old tired line on you, huh?" "Yup, he'll never learn." Grip chuckled. Grip told Tallulah of their plan and the four Shockers waited for the right moment to strike.  
  
Back at Noise Tank HQ:  
  
"Yo! Listen up, everybody!" K shouted so all the rudies could hear him, "I just got word from Pink. The Jet Set will leave the precinct at 9:30 and will be arriving by chopper! It should only take 'em about five minutes to get here!" "So that means they'll be here in roughly fifteen to twenty minutes." Zeta said, after looking at his digital watch. "Allright!" Beat exclaimed, "Let's get up top! We are going to have guests!" With that, the rudies left the warehouse and hid back in the dark corners of the street. Beat, Tab, and Gum waited out in the open along with the Noise Tanks. They started to choreograph their moves so that they would look like they were rally fighting, but without actually hurting each other. What they didn't realize, is that they were being watched.  
  
"Hey, guys. I got some news." Said a very young rudie into a radio. "Good to hear from ya, Catz. What's up, little dude?" Came Strike's voice on the other end. "I don't know how they knew when you would be getting here, but they seem to be planning some kind of ambush. It appears that the Noise Tanks are pretending to fight with some of the GG's. I guess the others will spring out of their hidey-holes when you guys get there." The twelve year-old reported. "So that it, huh? Thanks for the info, dude. It's too bad you're too young to fight with us. But you do good enough as an informant. I'll give the word to Blood and our brother. We are now getting into the choppers and are on our way. Strike over and out." The radio cut off. The youth in gray laughed, knowing that he had the best seat for the greatest show he would ever see.  
  
Back to the Station(frequent flier miles, anyone?):  
  
The choppers finally took off, but something wasn't right. "Two choppers?" Indigo asked, "I thought there was only three of them, why do they need two choppers?" "Who cares?" Tallulah snapped, "Maybe the other is for the rudies they capture. They won't get any, though." A fleet of police cars left the precinct in the direction of Benten. They waited a few minutes and finally Grip said it was time to go. They flew through the precinct with little to no resistance, most of the cops were out of the building, either on their nightly rounds or in Benten waiting for the big show. Most of the people there were secretaries. They first headed for the radio room to stop the Jet Set from learning they were there. After sending the equipment to electro-heaven, Tallulah and Grip raced to the basement with Tallulah leading the way. Evolove and Indigo stayed up top to deal with any cops that would try to stop them.  
  
Tallulah found the Poison Jam, although they weren't in their outfits. She was shocked at how much they looked like normal people beneath those scaly suits they wore. She wondered for a minute what the Noise Tanks looked like. She came out of her trance when one of the guys spoke to her, "What are you girlies doin' here?" the voice was very rough and deep. "Savin' your scaly hides!" Grip yelled as she clipped the lock with a pair of bolt cutters she found on the way down. She decided to keep them as a souvenir. "But, why? We thought you hate us? Why you save us?" the boy said. Tallulah winced at the lack of grammar and the horrid smell of his breath. She started to cough, violently. "Uhh...Sorry 'bout dat." He said, "I not able to use my breath stuff since I stuck here." The three hulks walked out of the cell and hobbled over to a locker across the hall. Tallulah caught her breath again and stood up. The three opened the locker. Grip could see the familiar outfits and skates that was usually worn by the Poison Jam in the locker. The boys took the clothes and slipped on their uniforms with amazing ease. They came back to the girls after they got their skates on, "We thank you for prison bust. But, me need to ask again, why you help us?" Grip gave them the short version of the plan to take out the Jet Set. "We like!" came the roar of the three Poison Jam.  
  
The five of them skated up to the other two Love Shockers. "Wha...four of you!?!?" the leader of the Poison Jam, Mag said. Grip chuckled and introduced them all to the Poison Jam. "Happy to meet girlies, I Mag, this here Tater and him Big." Mag said, trying to sound impressive. "Uh..., hi." Evolove said with a nervous smile, "Let's get outta here before more clones show up!" "You think they clones, too?" Big asked. "All the rudies, do." Said Indigo, holding her side. "You hurt! Me help Shocker!" Tater said as he picked up Indigo with no effort. He slung her over his shoulder. "No! You big lug! Put me down!" Indigo shouted, pounding on his back. "But you hurt. I help you." Tater said back. "It's OK Indigo." Tallulah said, laughing hysterically. "Yeah, take this time to get aquatinted." Grip wasn't able to keep from laughing. Tater blushed, "So soft." he mumbled to himself. The two gangs rushed out of the precinct, which now looked like it was hit by a tornado. They raced to Benten-cho as fast as they could, with a screaming Love Shocker over the shoulder of a blushing Poison Jam. 


	10. The Bigger Brawl

Chapter 10: The Bigger Brawl  
  
Beat could finally hear the choppers, but it sounded like there was more than one. "Maybe an extra load of cops." He thought. "Get ready, and make it look good!" he yelled at Gum, Tab and the Noise Tanks.  
  
"It would be my pleasure to kick your ass, GG." Zeta said, getting in the mood, "Alright, gangs. Let's get this show on the road!" Zeta raced for Beat and swung at him as he flew by. Beat ducked and tried to leg-sweep Zeta, but he was already out of range.  
  
Strike and his Jet Set saw the charade from their chopper, "What a bunch of fools, thinking we'll fall into their little trap." He mused to himself. He waved to Catz when he saw him on one of the nearby rooftops. Catz was jumping up and down with anticipation.  
  
Ultima started to laugh, "What are they doing down there, dancing? If this is all the better they can fight this'll be a piece of cake!"  
  
"Let's just hope they learned some new moves since we last mopped them." Blood said, "Otherwise, this'll be boring. I hope they give us more of a challenge than the Poison Jam did."  
  
"Don't forget," Strike warned him, "Here, we're severely outnumbered. So don't get cocky!" The helicopter started to hover and descend to an open spot in the freeway. Onishima radioed ahead and had all traffic in this section of Benten sealed off. There would be no distractions.  
  
The GG's and the Noise Tanks turned to face the choppers, acting like they were suprised. "What the hell is this all about?" Gamma shouted, though no one could hear him above the whirling chopper engines. He tried to sound sincere, just in case Strike or someone else in the Jet Set heard him. They didn't. Duh.  
  
"Strike to backup, please respond." He said into his radio.  
  
"Backup here," a female voice came in, "What is your command, sir?"  
  
"I want you to wait on the rooftops for my signal." Strike commanded, "You'll recognize it."  
  
"Yes, sir!" came back the enthusiastic female voice.  
  
The chopper got closer to the ground, Beat could almost see Ultima's white coat inside the chopper. He then noticed that the second chopper wasn't going to land. Not on the street, anyway. It hovered above one of the nearby buildings and then suddenly left. Beat was puzzled, but since Strike was emerging from the chopper at this very moment, he decided that he had more important things to worry about than contemplating what the other helicopter was all about.  
  
Strike stepped on the ground, the radar and heat censors in his headset and shades reveled to him the location of the rudies that were in hiding. He quickly relayed the information to his companions. His extra-sensory equipment was light-years ahead of what the Noise Tanks' wore, he could even hear countless swear words attacking him from all sides. He pretended not to notice, but his smirk doubled in size. Ultima followed shortly thereafter, his white trench coat seemed to sparkle amidst the neon lights that abound in Benten-cho. Blood came out and the chopper swiftly lifted off just as fast as it landed.  
  
As soon as the chopper was far enough away so it couldn't be heard, "It's so good to see you again, Beat!" said Strike with a positively evil grin. Beat gulped. Zeta shook nervously and took a step back. He then remembered that Strike and his crew were hopelessly outnumbered. He retook his step confidently. "Fancy meeting you here on a night like this. Tell me, Beat, are you still as slow as I remember?" Strike called out mockingly. Ultima and Blood laughed.  
  
Beat got his nerve back and shook his fist angrily at Strike, "How dare you show your face here! You are a traitor to all rudies and all that we stand for!" Gum looked at Beat, amazed that he had the gall to say that to someone she knew could easily mop the street with him. Beat continued to yell, "You call yourself rudies! You're nothing but a bunch of sell outs!" Even the Noise Tanks were dumbfounded that Beat would say such things to their former Tech-Master Epsilon.  
  
Strike's tell-tale grin faded into a stare, "Tisk, tisk. Beat, I thought you were smarter than this. We never said we were rudies. We are simple skaters, nothing more, nothing less." Beat became confused, but tried not to show it. "We're not sell outs, we volunteered for the positions. Doing what you do best is much better if you get paid well to do it." Strike said, regaining his trademark evil smile. "You're all under arrest for incalculable counts of vandalism, assault & battery, assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and God knows what else you people have done." He pointed to the six rudies in the street in front of them, "Come along quietly and peacefully and I shall be lenient on you."  
  
From behind a bill-board, Professor K, Trip and Shift stared at their adversaries. Well, in K's case, I guess a stare is toning it down a tad. K's was more of a menacing death-glare. Oh yeah, he was grinding his teeth, too. Shift glanced at him and didn't know what was scarier, seeing the infamous 'Jet Set' finally, or the expression on K's face.  
  
Tab was starting to lose his nerve, "Why do these diplomatic talks have to take this damn long?? Or be this damn boring?!?!" he thought to himself. He got more and more impatient with every word that came out of Strike's mouth. He finally snapped, "Damn it! Just shut the hell up and come on!" Tab started to dash for Strike as fast as he could.  
  
"I'm all for that, little man!" Ultima yelled as he stood in front of Strike ready to intercept his little plaything. Tab didn't notice that Beat and Gum weren't following behind like he hoped they would. "Batter up!" Ultima shouted as he swung at Tab with all his might. Tab would have ducked, but Ultima's reach was much farther than Tab realized. Therefore, Tab went flying, and so did a few of his teeth.  
  
Tab landed in front of Beat. Beat just stood there, his lower jaw almost hit the street. Gum hurriedly checked her brave, stupid but brave, friend. Beat then came to and cried out, "Get them! Give them hell! For all of us!"  
  
All at once, all the other rudies sprung from their hiding places and made a b-line for the Jet Set. Since Strike knew where they were hiding, he easily backhanded Garam as he tried to get the jump him from behind. Garam yelped, "Son of a..." He was cut off as Strike spun around and punched him square in the gut. Garam landed a foot back and started to wince in pain.  
  
Combo instantly rushed toward Ultima, he had left his boom box in the Noise Tanks warehouse, "Lot of good it'll do against someone who can use the Poison Jam as Ping-Pong balls." The blasted thing would definitely be destroyed, and it was his favorite box, too. Still, he kinda wished he had brought it with him, having both his arms free was a feeling he wasn't quite used to while wearing skates. It would take him about a minute to get through the crowd since his hiding spot was less than a choice selection.  
  
Mew got up to Blood as he turned to face her. Blood made a kissing face at her and winked. She was startled and stopped for a moment, not sure what the hell he was up to. That moment was all Blood needed as he swiftly drop kicked her. She heard him yell, "Pussy!" before he started to laugh and turn toward his next attacker. She struggled to get up, but the wind was knocked out of her. She could only watch for now.  
  
Slate volunteered to watch Tab as Gum and Beat both started to dash toward Strike. Beat knew that he would be no match for Strike alone, but with Gum by his side, he could do anything. Or so he thought as a black blur whizzed between them. Beat and Gum both found themselves doing a half-somersault through the air and landing hard on their backs. They were both dazed for a moment as Strike bolted past them again. Beat could swear that he could see electric sparks between Strike's skates, but his vision was blurry so he didn't know what he was seeing, really.  
  
Combo finally got to Ultima as Blood performed a leg-sweep on Alpha. Combo cupped his hands behind him. Cube got up behind her man and used his hands as leverage to jump over him, making a classic karate kick at a suprised Ultima. He started to move, but as she thought, he wasn't fast enough to completely dodge it. She got him square on the left shoulder, but he barely moved. "It's like kicking a boulder." She thought to herself as she used the top of his shoulder to jump off of behind him.  
  
"You lousy little bitch!" Ultima yelled at her as he turned to her. She jumped back as he brought his fist back to swing at her and almost tripped over Gamma. Before he was able to clobber her, a large pair of black arms wrapped around his neck.  
  
"Nobody, but nobody, talks to my girl like that!" Combo was yelling at the top of his lungs. Ultima tried to say something, but it came out a little more then a gasp. Cube took the opportunity to attach Ultima from the front. Combo started to lift him off the ground and Ultima was kick the air furiously. Unfortunately he was able to catch Cube with his heel in the back of her left knee. The pain shot through her as she crumpled to the ground. She dragged herself away from the raging hulks the best she could. Combo didn't see her fall from behind Ultima, all he knew is that he had him by the throat and that he wouldn't be able to hold on for long.  
  
Professor K, Shift, and Trip got up to Strike. "So you're the asshole that took my name! Who do you think you are?!?!" K was yelling again, loud and clear. Shift and Trip stood at his sides.  
  
Strike turned to face K, "Judging from the voice, you must be the legendary Professor K. Now this is truly is an honor."  
  
"Honor nothing!" K was practically hysterical with rage. "What the hell is the big-ass idea of taking the sacred name of Jet Set Radio and just trashing the hell out of it by using it for your lousy-ass group of bullies!?!?"  
  
Strike stared back at K, "That is none of your business, K. As for the name, it was Onishima's idea." He pointed his finger at K and his informants, "Leave this place immediately. I have no quarrel with you or your associates. Stay, and you will be arrested along with the street scum that are these rudies." He pointed behind himself. His voice was cool and monotone.  
  
Gamma saw this as an opportune time to get Strike while he was distracted. He dashed at his former master with all the speed he could muster. Too bad for him that Strike's headset saw him coming from a mile away. Strike used his outstretched hand to catch Gamma's incoming fist. He twisted around and eventually got Gamma in a head lock. Slate tried to come up behind Strike, to help Gamma. But, Strike saw him coming too and high back-kicked Slate right in the jaw. Ouchies! He then slammed Gamma in the head once. Gamma fell like a ton of bricks.  
  
Combo was starting to lose his grip on Ultima. Ultima was starting to get pissed at Combo. Ultima was able to get an elbow in Combo's gut, hard. Combo grunted and his grip game loose. Ultima immediately grabbed Combo's arms and threw Combo over him. Combo landed with a loud thud and rolled a few feet. "That's what you get for messing with the best, ya retard!" Ultima confidently yelled to Combo, knowing that Combo could hear each word clearly.  
  
Mew had gotten back on her feet by now and proceeded to circle Blood with Piranha on the other side. "Let's see." Blood mused, "I have pussy on one side and fish on the other. Damn, I'm good!" he laughed. Both girls instantly knew what he was referring to. Mew slightly blushed, Piranha just got angrier. They both nodded to each other and dashed for the sick-o. "Come to papa!" Blood yelled, still laughing. Piranha tried to clothesline him while Mew did a leg sweep as she went by. He back flipped right before the two girls were able to get to him.  
  
They stopped next to each other and stared at him with suprise. "You two aren't going anywhere!" Blood said as he circled the two. He gradually gained in speed. All of a sudden, a fire trail erupted from behind Blood's skates. He continued to circle, with the flames getting higher each time he passed by them. Both Mew and Piranha were amazed at this ability and didn't realize that they were trapped behind a wall of flames until Piranha could barely see over them. Mew was afraid of getting burned and she grabbed Piranha and started to hug her while she cried in fear. That got Piranha blushing, she had never seen Mew cry before. "That should keep the two of you busy for a while." Blood called back to them.  
  
Alpha had also recovered and got the wounded rudies out of the street with the help of Zeta. "Damn it!" Zeta yelled, "This is suicide!" They had gotten Tab, Gum and Beat moved onto the sidewalk. Beat and Gum gave a shaky thumbs up and tried to stand again. They leaned against a wall. Beat's head was still spinning. "We'll try to get everyone we can to safety, OK?" Zeta asked. Beat could only give a cough as an answer.  
  
Mag, Grip and their respective gangs could hear the commotion a few blocks away. "We're close." Grip said. Mag nodded and gave a slight grunt. Big motioned to Tater to set their siren down. Tater put Indigo down. She was half exhausted from yelling and she gave him a shy wave saying 'thanks for the lift'.  
  
Mag grunted again, "They no know we's comin' now." He smiled as the group continued on toward the action.  
  
Unluckily for them that Catz heard Indigo's screaming and already knew what they were up to. He quickly radioed Strike, "Hey Strike! I hope you guys are almost done down there. Because the Love Shockers are on their way!"  
  
Strike kept his focus on K and his group as he responded, "So what? Those girls will be nothing but cannon fodder for us. Actually we could use this to our advantage. This'll save us the time of rounding them up!" He grinned again.  
  
"That's not all! I don't know how, but they have the Poison Jam with them!" Catz's voice sounded a little frantic.  
  
"WHAT!" Strike yelled, "How can that be possible? They're all locked up back at the station! There's no way that they could be out!"  
  
K heard every word, "They did it! I don't know how they pulled it of, but they did it!" he softly said to his companions. Shift gave him an excited thumbs up while Trip simply jumped up and down in place a few times.  
  
"Try to contact the station and see what the hell is going on there!" Strike bitterly yelled into his receiver. He hung up on Catz before he got a response. Strike then shook his fist at K, "You! You set this up! It was all your idea! You're the mastermind!!"  
  
K smirked, "Yeah, sure. This whole mess was my idea. What are you going to do about it, punk?" Shift cracked her knuckles. Trip just stood there, she stuck her tongue out at Strike.  
  
Strike glared back at the three of them and shouted, "I'll send you all to hell in a hand basket, and your little station, too!" He dashed for Trip, from zero to thirty by the time he got to her. He gave her the mother of all round houses to her midsection before she could properly react to his sudden movements. She flew over twenty feet before slamming hard into a brick wall. 3...2...1...Your out!  
  
Strike screeched to a halt ten feet between K, Shift and their severely wounded friend. "Trip!!!" both K and Shift shouted in unison. They watched her fall to the ground, cough up some blood, and then stop moving entirely with her face to the concrete.  
  
"You damned bastard! I'll kill you!" K yelled in pure fury as he dashed full speed for Strike. In such an emotional state, K's speed nearly doubled, making him to par with the natural speed that Strike took for granted. Shift went straight to her fallen comrade to check the damage.  
  
Sure as hell, Strike was shocked when K was able to land a solid uppercut on him. "How in the living hell was he able to do that?" went through Strike's mind as he adjusted his weight in mid-air. He was still amazed at K's speed as he landed on his skates. Strike wasn't used to pain, and was a little wobbly from the force of the hit. He felt a small stream of blood come from his lower lip.  
  
K was already making a mad dash again for Strike. Being of a slightly cooler head, Strike was able to duck under K's left hook and trip him up enough to make K crash into some nearby trash cans. Strike decided that it would be wise to head back to his friends.  
  
K got up with a few bruises and bumps. He was about to start racing after Strike, but Shift called to him, "Sir! Come quick!" K inwardly cursed and went to see that was wrong. Shift was trying to pick up Trip, with little success. "Sir! She's in bad shape! We need to get her to a hospital, NOW!" Shift almost started to cry again. K could see a trickle of blood coming out of Trip's mouth, he knew that wasn't a good sign.  
  
"Damn you, Strike!" K yelled, "Damn you and your 'Jet Set'!" He helped Shift get Trip off the ground. They headed for the nearest hospital, "I'll get you for this yet! I swear it!" They skated down an alley and disappeared behind a corner.  
  
Onishima was enjoying the spectacle from the bridges above, "Send a car to follow them. Don't bother them at the hospital. I want to know the location of Professor K's radio station. We'll put that punk out of commission!" One of the many policemen behind him saluted and ran for his car. The car sped off without it's sirens or flashing lights. Onishima's attention turned back to the fight below, "I gotta' hand it to ya', Strike." He said in a disturbingly calm manner, "You and your boys are able to do what my whole station of morons can't!" 


	11. Requesting Backup!

Chapter 11: Backup!!!!  
  
"Uh...Excuse me, sir???" came a weak, whining voice from behind Onishima as a hand tapped him on his shoulder.  
  
"Damnation! What does that whiner want now?!?!" Onishima thought as he rolled his eyes and glanced back at the sniveling twerp in blue. "What is it this time, Inspector?" he asked, emphasizing his disgust. How in the living hell did this crybaby become his right-hand man? Damn chief.  
  
"Uhh..." the whining continued, "I don't mean to disrupt your fun, sir." Onishima glared at him. "I was just thinking, uhh..., that maybe we should have heard from the precinct by now? You know, with their routine report?" the Inspector's gray hair almost became white when he thought of what he just did. He just distracted Onishima from witnessing his dream come true. He let out a very audible gulp. A few of the other policemen backed away as Onishima stepped up to the fool.  
  
Onishima was royally pissed, not just over the fact that he was missing the greatest show on Earth, but also because this spineless toad in front of him dared remind him about procedure. "Got to give the boy credit." Onishima thought briefly, "He does have, at least, a little guts." 'Boy' was a funny choice of words, the man in front of him was almost two feet taller, and almost just as much thinner. He looked like a toothpick next to Onishima. "Maybe you're right, Inspector, take a squad or two back to check up on them." He felt like giving the worm a little slack and letting him go...this time. It would also be a while before Onishima would respect him enough to call him by name.  
  
The toothpick gasped a sigh of relief, along with a few other officers behind him. He dashed off with two cars in tow, then silence. Well, except for the commotion going on in the streets. Onishima returned his attention to the ballet on the street. He managed to get his grin back after he saw Strike reach his comrades in arms.  
  
Strike wasn't the only one arriving on the scene, out from behind a far corner, small patches of black and blue appeared and were heading for the battle zone. "Shit, man!" Strike said as he glanced in their general direction and saw what was coming. "They're here! The damn rudies got backup!" he yelled to his companions.  
  
Beat and Gum were getting back on their feet now and glanced at what Strike was referring to. Beat smiled wickedly when he recognized the Poison Jam and the Love Shockers. "We've got them now, Gum!" he said as they both straightened up.  
  
"I never thought I'd say it," Gum chuckled as she glanced at Beat, then back at their incoming allies, "But, I'm damn glad to see those broken hearts and them hulks." She started to laugh slightly at the thought of what she just said.  
  
"Well I'll be damned." Blood cursed when the realization that they might not win sank in. "It looks like we might actually be in trouble this time, boys." he called to his friends.  
  
Whichever rudies were hurt had already been cleared to the sidewalks by both Zeta and Alpha. Alpha was trying desperately to revive his younger brother, but to no avail. Gamma was out cold. Alpha cried, swore under his breath, shouted out in desperation, and immediately charged at his former masters at full speed.  
  
He almost made it to Strike, who was his intended target. He would have made it, in fact, if Blood hadn't clotheslined him as he went by. Since Alpha was blinded by his anger, Strike was the only thing he saw before he went flying and landing on his back.   
  
He slid a few feet and could see Strike looking down at him, smiling. "You don't belong here, rookie." He said, mockingly, "You're forgetting your place." The others didn't dare make a move in fear of what the Jet Set would do with Alpha if they tried anything rash. Alpha's vision went totally black. "Ultima, remove this stunted slime from my sight at once!" Strike may not win any popularity contests, but he sure as hell would never take a hostage, under any circumstance, for any reason.  
  
"Sure thing, dude." Ultima said with a smile. He looked down at the suit he once wore and almost felt pity for the poor creature that dwelled within it. He grabbed Alpha by the collar and gave him a massive toss to the group of rudies that were on the sidewalk, yelling, "Tank toss!"  
  
Beat, Gum and Zeta all caught some part of the Tank that attempted to fly. They all fell back with a universal "Oof!" as they hit the ground.  
  
Zeta was enraged, but he knew that if he tried what Alpha did, he would end up in the same condition. He began to cry for his partner's loss of consciousness.  
  
Things were starting to look up, though, as the fire wall around Piranha and Mew dwindled enough for Piranha to jump past. Mew was still clutching to her as she raced to check on her friends. Slate was starting to come around and he stood up with a bit of effort. Combo's head stopped spinning and he helped Cube to her feet. She was still sore in one knee but was able to shrug off the pain and stand up triumphantly.  
  
Strike and Ultima were starting to get tired and were breathing heavier than usual. Even Blood was beginning to overheat a little. The three of them conversed while the remaining GG's and Noise Tank rethought their tactics. The Love Shockers arrived with Poison Jam in tow . Things were finally looking good for the rudies and bad for the Jet Set.  
  
Onishima noticed Poison Jam and quickly radioed HQ. The whining voice told him everything. He cursed and ordered for the station to be cleaned up for the batch of visitors that they would be soon receiving. Satisfied with the ok signal he got back, Onishima cleared his mind(no big thing for him, mostly empty space where the common sense department should be, actually) and once again watched the fight. Except for the setbacks, he felt like a ten-year-old watching Saturday morning cartoons.  
  
"AHHHH!" Mag yelled as Tater and Big jumped back. "It's Big-Maxy-Boom-Boom-Guy!" they yelled together as they pointed at Ultima. Thank the gods that the Love Shockers told them of the plan, with all the rudies there. Otherwise, Mag would have bolted, along with his horrendous horde. He gulped, not sure of what to expect, and then he made up his mind. Poison Jam was here to stay.  
  
Ultima smiled, "Ahh...If it isn't my favorite set of dumbbells!" He continued to laugh, "Run into any brick walls lately?"  
  
"Hah!" Mag laughed back at him, although not whole-heartily, "You no scare us this time! We ready for you! We have stadegy!" The other rudies knew that the Poison Jammers would probably say something stupid. The rudies circled around the Jet Set and waited for whatever Poison Jam would say. They decided to take it as their cue to attack in force.  
  
Ultima just stood there and laughed, "Oh, yeah? What is your strategy, shit your pants and scare us of with your smelly underwear? I can already smell you from here! When in the hell was the last time you showered? Last year or what?!?" Strike and Blood were both laughing their asses off, not just because it was funny, but also because it was probably true.  
  
Mag was slightly pissed, though no one could see it under the mask, "Ha, ha! Very funny Mr. Boom Boom! Our stadegy is..." The remaining GG's, Love Shockers and Noise Tank waited for the cue and got ready to pounce. Mag threw his head back and pointed to his foe, "Get 'eeem!" The other rudies took this as their cue and dashed for the three uniform colors.  
  
Ultima grinned as the fish-heads came at him, "You would have been better off shitting yourselves! Don't worry, though, I'll see to that." Strike and Blood braced for the oncoming batch of rudies that were coming from all sides.  
  
"YAAAAA!" Mag yelled as he threw his fist at Ultima. Ultima grabbed his arm and proceeded to swing him around toward his friends. Because of his unusually large bulk, Mag slipped out of Ultima's hands and properly left an impression on a nearby wall.  
  
"Look! Birdies! Tweet, tweet!" was all Mag said before he went out.  
  
"Batter up!" Blood yelled as he uppercased Mew, "And stay down this time, kitty!" Slate followed closely behind and was able to tag Blood in the jaw with a solid right hook. Blood reeled back and got Slate in the nose. Slate staggered a few steps, but held his ground.  
  
Evolove made a B-line for Strike. Strike, being the gentleman he is, properly introduced her to his elbow. Grip followed suit, with her gut having an engaging interview with his left foot.  
  
Zeta saw everything through his goggles. He began to cry. He wanted to run away. He wanted to believe that what was happening wasn't. He wanted his associates to be upright, not deadweight. He wished to God that Disk and Matrix weren't on 'vacation'. He focused his anger at his ex-employer and put everything he had into his legs.   
  
Strike stood ready, until something big and heavy gave him a generous push from behind. He staggered forward and struggled to regain his balance. Slate had tackled Blood and they ran into him. The two were making a cute display in the pavement as they tried to pulverize each other and stand up at the same time. Strike barely had enough time to fix his gaze in from of him as he slammed into a pair of legs.  
  
Zeta did a partial flip forward and landed on his back. Oddly enough, his crotch hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and he doubled over, grabbing his damaged goods as if it would help somehow. The only other time he felt this much pain is when an opposing player accidentally kicked him in the jimmy during a little league soccer game years ago. For the moment, he didn't care what happened as long as the hurting stopped.  
  
Strike stood up with a new dose of dizziness and wondered what the hell happened. He glanced back, saw Zeta and chuckled inwardly when he realized that he had just effectively head-butted Zeta in the nads. He moved to Ultima's back to guard while the titan gave Tater a bear hug. Blood ended his skirmish with Slate by drop-kicking him. Battered and bruised, he wearily joined his friends.  
  
Tater screamed, then fell silent and limp in Ultima's arms. The white behemoth threw him to the side. Big caught his companion, and tried to awaken him with no luck.  
  
From his perch up top, Catz was enjoying the spectacle almost as much as Onishima was. He glanced down an alleyway and saw a peculiar blob of green dancing in the alley. He decided to go down to get a better look.  
  
Beat saw that the Jet Set was nearing the end of their ropes. He breathed a brief sigh of relief. Strike knew that the situation was going downhill fast. Beat called out to him, "Give it up, Strike! You and your boys are going down!" Gum got chills down her spine when she heard him. It made her remember why she fell in love with him in the first place.  
  
"Do you think we're beaten, little man?" Strike smiled a bloody smile, "The fun's just getting started!" With that, Strike raised his hand to his headset. Beat stood there, confused as a microphone snaked it's way out of Strike's headset and down to his mouth.  
  
Beat's eyes grew wider as he realized what was about to happen. Strike was calling for reinforcements!! Beat, unfortunately, didn't wake up from this realization in time to do anything to stop his evil doppleganger.  
  
"It's time to Jet Set!" Strike yelled into his headset, almost the same way K would have said it. The rudies took a step back, not knowing what to expect. Beat looked around frantically, trying to find out who or what Strike just invited to join their little dance party.  
  
Combo decided to take things into his own hands. He dived for the closest Jet Setter he could find, which happened to be Blood. Blood let out a yelp as Combo dived on him. Combo was able to twist around and get a hold of one of Blood's skates. Blood tried to break free, but was unable to because of how exhausted he was. Combo managed to pull off the skate and he tried to bash Blood in the face with it. Blood raised his right arm to defend himself. Combo almost jumped back as a spark of fire from the skate ignited Blood's right arm. Baffled as to what the hell just happened, Combo could only stare at the skate. Blood took the opportunity to give Combo a literal fire uppercut, although the move was more out of sheer reaction than an actual precision attack.  
  
Beat was still frantically searching the shadows for more attackers. Suddenly, he heard Piranha cry out in pain. He turned to see Piranha fall to the ground with a skater standing over her. The skater was wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, a blue hat with the TPD logo on it, and, well, just all blue.  
  
The man in blue raced over to Blood and helped him put his arm out. "It's about time you called us, sir." he said to Strike, "We were beginning to think you had forgotten all about us, isn't that right, Megami?" He looked up at a girl who was wearing a red outfit. Hers was a much brighter red than Blood's, like a rose, but red just the same.  
  
Even though the rudies outnumbered the Jet Set, Beat knew that the six remaining rudies wouldn't win against two fresh Jetters. Beat knew he had to make a strategic withdrawal. "Damn you, Strike!" he shouted suddenly, "Damn you and your Jet Set! Let's get out of here!"  
  
Some of the other rudies weren't sure what Beat was doing, but they got the picture really quick when he helped Mew and Garam up and started to take off with them. Big tried to grab his companions, but Ultima stood in his way to them. The blue Jetter went after Beat, plowing through Gum.  
  
It was about now that Yo Yo woke up from his dance session. Pink accidentally played his favorite song, a song that Yo Yo can't help but to dance to: Me So Horny by the 2 Live Crew. *that is an actual song, by the way* He looked around and gulped when he realized that he ditched his friends in their time of greatest need just to dance to (in his opinion) the greatest song ever recorded. He immediately left the safety of the alley and went to join his friends, who were mostly fleeing the scene. He lifted Piranha up on his back, and made a dash for the alley he was in a minute ago.  
  
From all corners of the street, sirens and flashing lights emerged. Looks like Onishima was no longer content to just sit back and watch. Beat could see the insane look of happiness on his face as he saw rudies from all gangs being hoisted and thrown into squad cars. The Jetter caught up with him, relieving him of the extra weight Mew imposed on him.  
  
Onishima just stood in front of him laughing like the madman he was. Beat knew what would happen if he was caught. Garam stood on his own and made a mad dash for the hysterical Onishima. Beat could only watch as a mob of cops surrounded him. Tears filled Beat's eyes. His vision blurred. Without knowing what he was doing or where he was going, Beat simply ran. He ran past buildings, around corners, faster than he had ever before. He ran away from the nightmare that happened in Benten. He ran until his legs gave way to exhaustion. He looked up to find himself at the garage. He had escaped, but at what cost? How many others didn't? He ignored the burning questions and collapsed on the couch. That night, he cried himself to sleep. 


	12. Four Apologies and a Weakness

Chapter 12: Four Apologies and a Little Weakness  
  
With a dozen rudies caught, Onishima almost didn't know what to say to the Jet Set. "Boys," he gleefully called to them as they came up to him, "I don't know how to thank you enough. Tell 'ya what, you three get cleaned up, then head home. I'll take care of all the paperwork on this one." His smile had stretched from one ear to the other. His eyes had an unmistakable gleam of pure insanity in them. Strike could only admire the way Onishima continued to cackle and laugh like he was wearing a straight jacket.  
  
That night, there was a parade of cop cars going down the street. Onishima was so pleased and elated(expressions he hadn't felt in ages) that he kept his siren blaring, firing his gun continuously all the way back to the precinct. Megami, Catz and the Jet Setter in blue(his name is Bubba*) rode on top of the SWAT trucks that carried the captured rudies, all of them dancing.  
  
Strike, Ultima and Blood all got into a squad car and headed for the hospital to treat their wounds. Another squad car was following behind them. Blood was still complaining about his arm when they arrived at the front doors of the hospital. He was immediately rushed off into the emergency room for treatment with two cops following him. Ultima, having not really been hurt, simply stayed in the car.  
  
"You go on ahead, dude." Strike smiled a partially bloody smile, "I'll get patched up, see how Blood is doin' and head home then. See 'ya at the apartment." Ultima waved as the squad car sped off.  
  
After having his bumps and bruises checked and cleaned up(mostly), Strike found his way to the room where Blood was sleeping. His right arm was covered in bandages. He had a few scrapes and cuts here and there, but nothing serious. One of the cops got up and walked to Strike.  
  
"He's suffered third degree burns on his right arm." The officer told him. "He also has a minor concussion. The doctors say he should rest up here for the night. I'll camp out here for the rest of the night to make sure he gets some sleep. Martin here will give you a lift back to your apartment."  
  
"Sounds good. I'll stop by in the morning to see how he's doing. Now I don't want you staying up all night. You need some sleep too, ok?" Strike left the room with Martin walking in front and headed for the front door. As he was passing some of the other rooms, he noticed a girl in a purple outfit lying in a bed with tubes in her arms. He stopped. Something about this girl seemed familiar. Strike took a few steps into the room she was in. When he could see her face fully, he knew who he was looking at. It was Trip, the informant of K's that he sent flying into a wall.  
  
Strike knew she was hurt really bad. It was all his fault. He didn't mean for her to get involved in this. He checked the chart at the foot of her bed. It read: Multiple fractured ribs at midsection, Medium concussion. Strike was relieved that nothing major was punctured. He set the chart back and walked to the girl's side. She was sleeping soundly.  
  
Suddenly, Martin came by, saw Strike next to the bed and came in. "I'm sorry, sir." the rookie said, "I didn't notice you stopped." Martin looked at the girl and almost jumped. "That's the girl from the fight! She's one of Professor K's subordinates! I've gotta radio this in!" he grabbed for his radio, but before he was able to contact headquarters, Strike snapped the radio out of his hands.  
  
"You will do nothing of the sort." Strike held a firm tone, "She is not a rudie. She was simply an innocent bystander that got caught in the middle of the fight. You will go and wait in the car for me. That is all." Strike handed the radio back to the rookie, whom backed away with a look of fear in his eyes. Martin scurried out of the room.  
  
Due to the commotion, Trip started to wake up. Her vision was a little blurred at first. All she could make out was a large black smear next to her bed. When her eyes cleared she nearly jumped out of her bed. It was him. The man in black that kicked her in the gut. The man that moved so fast. The man that almost killed her. Was he here to finish the job? She tried to get away, babbling nonsense as she panicked for her life.  
  
"Calm down. I'm sorry. I'm not here to hurt you." Strike pleaded. He knew that it would be almost impossible for her to understand him. Still, he had to try to calm her down before she made her condition worse than it already was. He swung around the other side of the bed where she was cowering. Before she was able to scurry back to the other side, he grabbed her gently and held her to him, hugging her. She struggled at first until she had to stop to process this situation more thoroughly.  
  
"What is going on?" Trip though. At least she could think somewhat clearly, "This man that almost killed me in an instant is now hugging me, why?" she looked up to see tears forming under the rims of his shades. "Why is he crying? Is he crying for me? Is he crying because he hurt me?" she was able to calm down a little. Her muttering stopped and she took a deep breath.  
  
Strike could feel the tension flow out of her, he loosened his grip and looked down at her. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, still wide open from shock as to who was holding her. He let her go and she moved back to the middle of her bed, not once taking her eyes off him. With a tear going down his cheek he smiled at her.  
  
Something about his smile, tears included, seemed peaceful to her. Suddenly, she wasn't afraid anymore of the stranger who now was sitting by her side on her bed in the hospital. Part of her kept reminding her that he was the reason for her being in the hospital in the first place. With that in mind, she kept a defensive position and simply stared back at him.  
  
"Thank God." Strike finally said after a few minutes. "Thank God you're alive. I was so worried that you would have been dead." Another tear formed and fell down his cheeks. "If you had died, I don't know what I would have done. I'm sorry I attacked you. I felt so guilty after hitting you that I...I..." he fell silent, not knowing what to say.  
  
Trip was still trying to figure out why this man was making such a fuss over her. "You felt guilty and you're sorry you hit me?" She repeated his words without realizing it. She was shocked at how sincere he sounded. She believed he was telling the truth. She believed that his words were genuine.  
  
"I don't know what came over me. I became so pissed all of a sudden that I couldn't focus. I meant to go after K, not you. But because I was so blinded by my anger, you ended up getting hurt. I am so sorry." Strike took a deep breath. "It was never my intention to involve you, K, or anyone in Jet Set Radio. K just happened to make the unwise choice of crossing me."  
  
"If you didn't want to involve us, why did you name your group the 'Jet Set'? You should have known that Professor K takes the station very seriously!" Trip shouted at him. A sharp pain in her side reminded her of her medical condition. She groaned at the pain and laid back down in the bed. She did her best to calm down, not an easy task, given her company.  
  
"That was Onishima's idea. I told him that K would probably get involved if we were named that. Onishima doesn't know how to listen to people. He thinks he's King Shit of Turd Mountain. He smells the part at times, at least." Strike stood up and paced back and forth in the room.  
  
Trip laughed as she watched her assailant, "That's a good one, Strike." She continued to chuckle until she finally took notice of what Strike was wearing. She glanced outside only to be met with the pitch blackness of midnight. She looked back at Strike, "Why are you wearing shades at this time of night? Come to think of it, you were wearing them during the fight. How can you see?"  
  
Strike glanced at her, "Fair enough. I hurt you, and now I can tell you a secret. It's no reimbursement for your pain, I know. But I feel like I owe you something more then a mere apology." He sat down next to her again. "You have suck pretty eyes. You can tell a lot about a person by looking them in the eyes. I can tell you are a devoted, strong willed girl. As for me..." Strike raised his hands to take of his shades, "Tell me what you see." His shades came off.  
  
Trip gasped. She gazed into his eyes and saw nothing. Where his color should have been, she saw nothing. His eyes went straight from white on the outside to pitch black. They looked like ping pong balls with holes drilled in them. "Amazing," she muttered, "I have never seen someone with black eyes before, but why the shades?"  
  
Strike put his shades back on, "It's because they're black that I need these shades." She was confused. "You see, black eyes means..." he paused a perfectly dramatic time, "I'm blind. Plain and simple."  
  
Trip opened her mouth to question his words, but he raised a hand to silence her. "All my life, I have been blind, and not only that, but I'm deaf, too. Officially, at least."   
  
The expression on her face was priceless. She had no ides how to consume the information he gave to her. He new his words were impossible, but she didn't believe that he was lying, either. She was particularly puzzled by his last words. Officially?  
  
He chuckled slightly as the sight of her face. "Even though I was born with only three senses, I was very fortunate to receive a king's ransom in the brain department. In my years in school, I was a child prodigy. I excelled in every subject. I decided to study the human body in hopes of finding a way to make myself see and hear. I was lucky when I discovered...well, I won't bore you with the details. I'll cut to the chase. You remember the character Jordy LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation?"  
  
She nodded and then realized what he was getting at, "You mean, you figured out a way to construct something that would allow you to see?" She was shocked.  
  
"Not only that," Strike beamed with accomplishment, "But I came up with a way to allow me to hear as well." Strike tapped on his headset, a disk as big as a CD player covered each ear. "Now that you know my little secret, I must bid you farewell." He walked toward the door. "You should get some sleep and heal up, I need some rest, too."  
  
Touched by his honesty and the fact that he just gave her a detail about a major weakness of his she could only respond, "Good night, Strike. I forgive you." With that she fell back asleep.  
  
Strike got into the squad car and Martin proceeded to drive him home. On the way, Strike was amazed at how easy Trip forgave him. He never would have imagined that she would just up and forgive him like that, not after what he'd done to her. "Then again," he thought, "I knew she was also a very forgiving person when I gazed into her eyes."  
  
When he got home, Martin waved to him and sped off back to the precinct. Strike yawned deeply when he came in through the front door. He dragged his sleepy carcass upstairs to his room. He quickly glanced into Ultima's room to see that the fat lug had dozed off and was lightly snoring. Catz's room was empty, Strike figured that the little brat was selling exaggerated stories to Onishima and the other officers. He yawned again, got ready for bed and soundly snoozed the morning away.  
  
The Jet Set had gotten of easily that night. But, Lady Luck wouldn't smile on them as brightly the next night as Strike and his Jet Set would find out very soon.  
  
*Don't laugh. All the members of the Jet Set are based on me(duh) and my closest friends, all of which I asked to pick a color and a rudie name. This friend literally chose 'Bubba' as his name. It was his decision and I will honor it, no matter how stupid the name is. 


	13. Midnight Madness! All Cops Must Go!

Chapter 13: Midnight Madness! All Cops Must Go!  
  
Most of the cops had left the precinct early that night. Onishima was in such a good mood that he sent almost everybody home for the night with pay. Needless to say, the coppers were delighted by Onishima's words. Since they couldn't leave the station completely empty, Onishima gave all the remaining cops overtime.  
  
Catz, Bubba, and Megami were filling in the officers who missed the action on what happened. True to his character, Catz was making up constant exaggerations on what happened. Bubba finally told him to shut up and go home. Even though Catz was an official member of the Jet Set, he was much too young to be on the police force. Catz gave him a mean glare and left.  
  
"Well," came Onishima's raspy voice, "I'm calling it a night. Great job to all of you." He patted both Jetters on the back, "Thanks to you guys, our city will soon be cleaned of that rudie trash." Onishima was still laughing his insane laugh as he left the precinct and drove off.  
  
"Shorty has left the building." Bubba joked. Most of the remaining officers chuckled with him. "Well, I'm going home to bed, too. Are you going to stay up, Megami?"  
  
"Whatever for?" Megami asked, "We caught a dozen rudies tonight, over half of them are still knocked out. There's no way that they can break out. And besides, all their friends are exhausted, there'll be no breakout tonight."  
  
"True 'dat." Bubba responded, "All right, good night everyone. We all deserve it." He waved to the thirteen remaining policemen and women. With a wave back, both Bubba and Megami left the precinct for some much needed sleep.  
  
Six pairs of eyes watched them leave and six mouths grinned.  
  
"Now's our chance." A metallic male voice whispered in the dark alley next to the precinct.  
  
"What are you, stupid?" came a woman's voice behind him, "At least wait until they're gone so we don't have to mess with them."  
  
"Yeah, man. You heard how well they can fight, not even the six of us could take the two of them on." Another female, slightly lower in tone.  
  
"Maybe you GG's can't," the metallic voice snapped back at them, "But the Noise Tanks can do anything. We don't need your help."  
  
"You're friends had all the Poison Jam, Love Shockers, and the GG's helping them, and what happened, huh?" A brisk male voice rang out, "Besides, we aren't officially GG's, not yet."  
  
"Well, I am an official Noise Tank, and I say we should go in there now and bust our friends out!" the Tank yelled back.  
  
"Damn it, Disk!" the first female voice said, "Do you want us to be heard?"  
  
"I don't care if all the clones in the city hear me." Disk was becoming agitated. "What do you think, Matrix?"  
  
The shadow on the wall next to him rose, "I think we should be in the clear in about another hour or so." Another metallic, but distinctively feminine voice came out.  
  
"You too, Matrix?" Disk was shocked, "You're supposed to be on my side!"  
  
"You just can't take it because you're outvoted, can you Disk?" the male voice said as he laughed.  
  
"Shut up, Clutch! I don't have to take this shit from you or anybody else!" Disk was sure to attract some attention if he kept yelling.  
  
"Will you all knock it off!?" the voice of a young boy came up from behind them, "Fighting with each other will only result in our failure. I agree with Matrix, we should be clear to free our friends in about an hour. The police won't be expecting a breakout, not tonight. This is our best and only chance to free our comrades."  
  
The deeper female voice came out, "Such big brains for such a small kid! If only you were a little older, I'd date you in a heartbeat!"  
  
"Thank you, Boogie. I was just fortunate to meet you and Jazz when I did. I came up with the idea of a suprise breakout. And we just happened to run into Disk and Matrix on our way here." The young boy responded. If anyone could have seen his face, they could see him blushing.  
  
"I don't care how young you are, you're still cute!" Boogie laughed and blew him a kiss. "I think it's so noble of you to come looking for your brother. Mine was such an ass! I didn't like him at all!"  
  
"Careful Boogie, you'll make the poor boy blush." Jazz said as she continued to look out to make sure the coast was clear.  
  
"So what? All men blush when they think about me going out with them!" Boogie was letting her inflated ego show again. She started to laugh.  
  
Clutch and Disk laughed, too. The boy let out an audible 'gulp' and fell on his ass. Jazz kept watch on the front and laughed. Matrix just stared while Boogie tortured the 'poor boy' by pretending to strip and dance in front of him for the next hour. No one could see her in the dark, but Boogie's descriptions left little to the imagination.  
  
Matrix finally said it was time to go and mentioned to Boogie to quit 'screwing around' with the kid. This comment was only met with intense laughter from all corners of the alley.  
  
Things went slow for the remaining officers that night, up until around 4AM, that is. A group of six rudies waltzed in the front door. Nobody noticed them at first because the precinct was still a mess and most of the remaining officers were busy cleaning. The comm station was still in pieces. Finally, the receptionist saw them as she was sorting some files.  
  
"Ooh!" she exclaimed in suprise, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you come in. How may I help you?"  
  
Clutch walked up to her, "We're here to bust out the rudies you captured earlier."  
  
The receptionist gave a confused look as if she didn't understand what he said, "Excuse me, sir? What did you want?"  
  
The rudies started laughing.  
  
"We're here to bust out the rudies you captured." Clutch repeated loudly.  
  
The receptionist finally noticed their shoes and started to scream. The rudies split up and dashed into the station, punching and kicking cops before they had enough time to react. The boy shut up the receptionist by spraying her with his home-made sleeping gas.  
  
"Hurry up, Soda!" Boogie shouted to him as she elbowed a cop in the nuts. "You're going to be left behind!"  
  
Soda hurriedly sprayed all the remaining cops that hadn't been knocked out by the other rudies. The group made their way through the building to the prison cells, slamming every officer that was foolish enough to wander into their path.  
  
Boogie noticed Soda's sleeping spray. "Wow. I'll bet that comes in handy when you don't want to be disturbed." She said seductively and winked at him. Soda barely kept himself from falling again.  
  
"Enough with the images in my head!" yelled Matrix, "We have more important things to worry about now!" It was easy to tell that she was getting flustered.  
  
The captured rudies were mumbling and complaining about their various bruises and other 'gifts' that Strike and the other Jetters left them. A number of them were asleep. Disk flipped the light switch only to be greeted by a number of select cuss words and grumbles from rudies who were waking up. So was a guard, but Soda was fast enough to put him out before the guard was able to do much of anything.  
  
"Well, fine then. We won't bust you out." Clutch said with a smile on his face. More and more rudies were waking up.  
  
"Disk! Matrix!" Zeta jumped up when he saw his allies. "Am I glad to see you guys!"  
  
"Likewise, Zeta." Disk replies as he reached for the keys that the guard had.  
  
He had almost grabbed them when a shot rang out and a bullet flew past his head. He froze in his tracks. The other rudies spun around. A tall man in a blue coat stood in the doorway waving a gun at the group that would send his prisoners free.  
  
"Well, well, well." The tall man said, "Look at what I have caught. More fans to add to my collection." The man gave a dark grin and waved the group into a corner.  
  
"Fans of what, Hayashi? Your constant whining, or your pathetic pleas for attention?" Indigo asked.   
  
That got a number of laughs going and only infuriated Hayashi. "How dare you, you little bitch!" he yelled, "You just haven't been given the pleasure of my punch line."  
  
"Punch line?" Indigo mocked him, "I betcha' I've been hit harder by a pillow!"  
  
More rudies were laughing now. "Silence!" Hayashi screamed as he shot the prison bar next to her with his revolver. She jumped back. Everyone fell silent.  
  
Disk took this opportunity to get the jump on Hayashi while he was distracted. Unfortunately for Disk, Hayashi wasn't as slow as Disk thought. Hayashi shot at the floor right in front of Disk. Disk jumped back.  
  
"Don't try anything heroic, you stupid punk!" Hayashi commanded as he moved over to the sleeping guard. "Hey! You!" he shook the slumbering oaf. "Damn it! Useless!" Hayashi threw the man to the floor and picked up the keys he had.  
  
Jazz and Boogie took the opportunity to dash for the doorway. Hayashi say them as they were reaching it.  
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Hayashi shouted as he shot the door twice, sending sparks out and closing it at the same time.  
  
Both Jazz and Boogie dropped to the floor and held their heads in their hands as if they expected something to fall on them. Suddenly, Soda threw his sleep spray can at Hayashi.  
  
"Insolent little..." was all Hayashi said as he turned to fire. And hit, the can, that is. The can spun around on the floor.  
  
It was too bad the can had been emptied, but Soda had something else up his sleeve. The young boy started walking toward Hayashi slowly, in a dramatic fashion.  
  
"What are you doing?!?" Clutch yelled but could only watch as his little friend walked to the mad gunner.  
  
Boogie a Jazz looked up as Soda passed them. They both looked at him like he was insane. Soda gave Boogie a wink as he passed her and smiled. She didn't know what he was going to do against Hayashi's revolver, but his smile was so reassuring to her. She thought that she might be falling in love.  
  
"That was a rather clever attempt, boy." Hayashi snarled at the kid. "But what do you plan to do now, little one?"  
  
"Give it up, Hayashi." Soda commanded, "You can't win. If you give up now, I promise you won't be hurt too badly."  
  
Now all the rudies were staring at him like he was insane. Boogie could only stare at her soon-to-be-dead hero. She could hear her heart thumping.  
  
Hayashi was dumbfounded. "Now just..." He had no idea what to say, "Who do you think you're talking to?!? I'm the guy with the gun, you little punk!"  
  
Soda only smirked, "Then use it, 'ya twiggy ass piece of shit! Quit stalling! I haven't got all day, 'ya know!"  
  
All of the rudies were staring at Soda as if he'd lost his mind. Quite frankly, they all believed that he'd lost it.  
  
Boogie blushed as her heart pounded harder. She was at the brink of crying. For what reason, she didn't know.  
  
Hayashi grew even more agitated at this little hooligan's sheer audacity, "Fine! I'll send you to hell where you belong, scum!" His index finger squeezed the trigger that would send Soda to the next world...  
  
*click*  
  
"WHAT!?" Hayashi screamed as he tried to fathom his predicament. He squeezed again...and again...  
  
*click*  
*click*  
  
"DAMN IT ALL ANYWAY! WHAT'S WRONG!?!?" he kept yelling. His brain was trying to process the horrible fact that he was out of ammo.  
  
Soda dashed at him and gave him a full force punch in the nads, "Learn how to count, 'ya retard!"  
  
Hayashi instantly doubled over, holding himself and dropping his gun to prevent further damage. Unfortunately for him, this left his head wide open.  
  
Soda punted Hayashi in the face. The insane inspector fell on his back, and with a bleeding nose, didn't move again. Hayashi was out cold.  
  
It was a moment before the other rudies were fully able to digest what had happened. Most of them woke up from staring when they heard the keys to the cells jingle in Soda's hands.  
  
The rudies were shouting, clapping and cheering for Soda the whole time he opened the cells. They all rushed at him and held him up above their heads, all the while complementing him. Boogie stood up and stared at her hero with stars in her eyes.  
  
Eventually the rudies let Soda down and he explained his actions. They threw more complements at him as the jailed rudies got their gear back on.  
  
"What now?" Cube asked when everyone settled down, "Where should we go from here?"  
  
"Well," Zeta said, "We can't go back to our HQ, and it would be a bad idea to split up with that 'Jet Set' still roaming about."  
  
"I know!" Clutch shouted, "Why don't we all go to the GG's base? There's plenty of room!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Combo shouted at him, "And let all our rivals know where out base is?"  
  
"So what?" Indigo asked, "We all know where the Noise Tank's hideout is."  
  
"Yeah but..." Alpha spoke up, "We have to move now. And start over again. They've probably confiscated all our computers and files."  
  
"Wouldn't they be in the evidence room, then?" Gamma asked.  
  
"Hey, you're right!" Alpha responded, "Good thinkin' bro!"  
  
"Is there a place we could all lay low and not spoil the location of a hideout?" Garam asked, still holding his side.  
  
"What about the abandoned residential block near Rokkaku-Dai Heights?" Combo suggested.  
  
"Hey, that could work." Tab said. "We could head back to our garage to tell Beat and the others of our new get-together."  
  
Mag took a step forward, "Me think Tater and me should try find Big."  
  
"'Ya! We find heem, then come back for party!" Tater shouted.  
  
"Uhh...you two do that." Mew said. She watched as the two hulks skated out of the room.  
  
"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Grip said, "Indigo, you head back to base to try to find Tallulah and Evolove. I need to find out what happened to my sister."  
  
"Even if you two don't see eye to eye, you're still sisters." Indigo replied, "I would suggest looking for her at the Kogane Hospital."  
  
The other rudies nodded and the two Love Shockers headed out.  
  
"It's great to see you two again." Zeta looked at Disk and Matrix, "Thanks for helping with the breakout."  
  
"We're glad to be here." Disk said, "Now let's find our stuff and get it over to my place. We can stash it there until we find a new place to set up camp."  
  
"Good idea, Disk" Zeta replied. He turned to face the remaining rudies, "After we secure our stuff, we'll meet you at the abandoned residential block, OK?"  
  
The five GG's left the precinct with Clutch, Jazz, Boogie and Soda in tow.  
  
It only took the Noise Tanks about an hour to get their stuff together, along with a number of select 'gifts' the police 'loaned' them. They loaded three squad cars with assorted electronics and drove off into the night.  
  
Boy, would Onishima have a suprise the next morning. He always hated Mondays. 


End file.
